Lower birth weight and poor childhood diet can lead to poor learning and behaviour in children, particularly girls, according to new research. The study, published today in Research in Developmental Disabilities by researchers from Monash University, the National Defence Medical Centre, Taiwan and the National Health Research Institute, Taiwan, found girls with lower birth weight experienced a greater inability to learn and weaker overall competence than girls of normal birth weight.

Taking vitamin e supplements or eating lots of vitamin e rich foods may help pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes, according to a new study in the 5-6 2011 issue of Clinical Laboratory. The study of 20 pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes and 20 controls without the disease shows that taking vitamin e helped reduce an oxidation product and increase the the concentration of an antioxidant called glutathione.